Born in Mount Moriah, MO, a child prodigy, he started his professional career at the age of 11 as an accompanist to vocalists in Kansas City and made his debut as a conductor there at 16. In 1927 he was awarded a Julliard Foundation Fellowship and three years later joined CBS radio as an arranger and later conductor and composer. His first film score, for RKO's SYNCOPATION (1942), included his "American Rhapsody," which was later performed in concert halls. After returning from WW II service as radio director for the Southwest Pacific Area with the Office of War Information, he composed scores for many other films and numerous TV shows. He died at 60 of a heart attack just minutes after having learned that his wife had been killed in a traffic accident. Other notable composing credits include IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946, uncredited), ALL MY SONS (1948), WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951), NAVAJO and THE ATOMIC CITY (both 1952), THE WAR OF THE WORLDS and THE WILD ONE (both 1953), JULIE (1956), THE JAMES DEAN STORY (1957), THE FIVE PENNIES, THE GENE KRUPA STORY and BUT NOT FOR ME (all 1959), THE INTERNS (1962), IT HAPPENED AT THE WORLDS FAIR and A NEW KIND OF LOVE (both 1963) and THE NIGHT OF THE GRIZZLY (1966). Stevens scored many television series and made-for-TV movies from the early 1950s until his death in 1970.

Nominated for Music Best Song 1956: JULIE "Julie" - Music  Nominated for Music Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of a Musical Picture) 1959: THE FIVE PENNIES  Nominated for Music Scoring Awards (Scoring of Music Adaptation or Treatment) 1963: A NEW KIND OF LOVE 3 nominations